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REVERSEACTION Project

@reverseaction.bsky.social
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Reverse engineering collective action: complex technologies in stateless societies. An archaeological project funded by an ERC Advanced Grant

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Jasmine Vieri @jasminevieri.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
It was such a pleasure to work on this article together with my colleagues, out yesterday in @commssustain.nature.com ! Have a look at the University of Cambridge news release👇 www.cam.ac.uk/research/new...
cam.ac.uk
No bosses, no problem! Pre-Hispanic farmers built giant water system bottom-up, archaeologists reveal
Communities living in Colombia thousands of years ago achieved an engineering wonder of the world based on cooperation among family groups without top-down government, a new study shows. Archaeologist...
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
The international team was made up of Jasmine Vieri and Marcos Martinón-Torres (Cambridge), Fernando Montejo (ICANH) @mcarreropazos.bsky.social (Santiago de Compostela) funded by @erc.europa.eu (REVERSEACTION project) (6/6)
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
The readoption of the systems could offer low-cost, locally governed solutions to flooding and drought in present-day La Mojana, which currently experiences a water management crisis (5/6)
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
The low labour costs revealed by the study suggest the work was most likely locally-led and cooperative rather than directed by a hierarchical authority. It could be achieved by the local populations in 0.7-1.5 months, or half a single dry season (4/6)
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
To shed light on the social structuring needed for their construction, we developed new methods to quantify the associated labour costs, mapping a 500-hectare portion of pre-Hispanic field systems at an unprecedented level of detail (3/5)
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
The pre-Hispanic field systems of La Mojana in the Colombian Caribbean are so vast you can see them from a plane at high altitude. It was traditionally assumed that powerful rulers must have ordered and managed such an ambitious infrastructure project (2/5)
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Latest REVERSEACTION #research on pre-Hispanic raised field systems from La Mojana, published with @SpringerNature in Communications Sustainability today! nature.com/articles/s4445… Key takeaways👇 #openaccess #archaeology #watermanagement #sustainability #collectiveaction (1/6)
nature.com
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
New special issue on the archaeological site of Nueva Esperanza, the largest archaeological excavation in Colombia 🎉 ft. an article by REVERSEACTION and colleagues on 2000 years of goldwork at the site 👀 READ HERE #openaccess (ES) revistas.icanh.gov.co/index.php/ap #archaeology #muisca
revistas.icanh.gov.co
Arqueología y patrimonio
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
New textile research from REVERSEATION ➡️ doi.org/10.1007/s108... 🌟 New method for evaluating and comparing the production of archaeological textiles, using complexity and quality as proxies for skill and cost 🌟 Analysis of 5 types of pre-Hispanic cotton mantas from 3 regions across Colombia
doi.org
A Visual Method to Compare the Quality and Complexity of Archaeological Textiles: The Cotton Mantas of Pre-Hispanic Colombia - Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory
Concepts such as cost, value, skill, complexity, and quality are central to archaeological interpretations of material culture, yet often they remain undefined, resulting in subjective and inconsisten...
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
Read here (extended abstract available in Spanish) ➡️ www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...
degruyterbrill.com
Disentangling Technological Traditions: Comparative Analysis of Chaînes Opératoires of Painted Pre-Hispanic Ceramics From Nariño, Colombia
Occurring throughout the Americas, ceramics with negative decoration have been variously used as archaeological markers of chronology, provenance, ethnic affiliation, or cultural interaction. In the h...
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
5/5 ❤️ The result? We can start to identify real and meaningful differences in how different ancient communities crafted vessels with unique shapes and recipes 🏺 Stats is not just for spreadsheets, it can also tell us stories of human creativity! #Archaeology #DataScience #StatisticsInAction
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
4/5 📈 #MANOVA tests (to test whether identified ware clusters really mean something)
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
3/5 🎨 #PCA plots (to reduce the many variables we take under consideration and look for trends across pottery styles, dates, and #archaeological sites)
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
2/5 🌀 #EllipticalFourierAnalysis (to translate the curves that make up pottery shapes into equations!)
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
1/5 📊✨ #WorldStatsDay meets Ancient Pottery! Did you know REVERSEACTION uses statistics to study archaeological materials? Our recent paper in #OpenArchaeology reveals new insights into pottery from pre-Hispanic Nariño, #Colombia, by turning vessel shapes and paste compositions into numbers using:
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
We are HIRING 🎉 REVERSEACTION are seeking a Research Assistant in Archaeometallurgy PLEASE SHARE 🗓️Applications close May 30th 2025 ➡️More info available at www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/51186/ #archaeologicalscience #archaeology #colombia #metallurgy #archaeometallurgy #materialsscience
jobs.cam.ac.uk
Research Assistant in Archaeometallurgy (Fixed Term) - Job Opportunities - University of Cambridge
Research Assistant in Archaeometallurgy (Fixed Term) in the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge.
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
@justalittleroo.bsky.social would like you all to know that she was also there supporting her team from the side-lines (she got fomo and booked a holiday) and as such we have fixed the first photo accordingly #archaeologistoffduty #stillinamuseum
Two women pose with an ancient large stone sphere, with another woman photoshopped in
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
Thank you very much for the invitation and the hard work to the organisers from the Otto-Friedrich-University Bamberg, the German Mining Museum in Bochum, and the Museo Nacional de Costa Rica.
Woman poses with museum display cabinet
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
Jasmine discussed the #computationalmodelling of #Muisca goldwork; and Marcos introduced the overarching goals and recent results of the #REVERSEACTION project.
Jasmine discussed the computational modelling of Muisca goldwork; and Marcos introduced the overarching goals and recent results of the REVERSEACTION project.
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
Lina talked about her work on #Malibú #goldwork and its role in local #ontologies in the Colombian Caribbean. In the words of Lina, it was "astonishing to see the similarities of the Costa Rican collections with the northern Colombian metalwork" 3/
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
The workshop connected researchers working on the topic in the #IntermediateArea and #Mexico, revealing fascinating continuities and discontinuities in the use of metals by communities in the past, and sparking discussion on various approaches to their study and interpretation 2/ #archaeology
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
In March, Lina María Campos Quintero, @jasminevieri.bsky.social, and Marcos Martinón-Torres participated in a workshop about #earlymetallurgy from Mexico to #Colombia, in San José, #CostaRica 1/
Two women take a selfie with a large ancient stone sphere
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
📢 New #OpenAccess publication in Open Archaeology 📢 We present the first comparative tech analysis of painted Pre-Hispanic ceramics from #Nariño, #Colombia, combining #GMM of 3D models, #pXRF, #Raman, and #SEM Read here ➡️ www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi... @degruyterbrill.bsky.social
degruyterbrill.com
Disentangling Technological Traditions: Comparative Analysis of Chaînes Opératoires of Painted Pre-Hispanic Ceramics From Nariño, Colombia
Occurring throughout the Americas, ceramics with negative decoration have been variously used as archaeological markers of chronology, provenance, ethnic affiliation, or cultural interaction. In the h...
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
PAID #INTERNSHIP for undergrads, with free accommodation in #Cambridge! Projects in: - Animal #SocialScience - Physical Activity #Research - #Archaeology - #CognitiveScience - Social Research Please #SHARE & help us reach more individuals and HE Departments #wideningparticipation #scicomm
cshss.cam.ac.uk
Research project options | School of the Humanities and Social Sciences
Find out what research project you could work on as a intern on our research experience programme, SHARE.
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Cambridge Archaeology @cam-archaeology.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
Thinking about postgrad research in the humanities and social sciences but not sure it’s for you? Apply for our paid research experience internships by Friday 28 Feb to spend your summer with our incredible research community bit.ly/3PqhpRB Join the @reverseaction.bsky.social team!
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
Preparing some resin-embedded ceramic samples for SEM-EDS analysis 🧐 for a full post on why we do this kind of analysis on ceramics scroll down our page 👀 #archaeology #archaeologicalscience #sampleprep www.instagram.com/reel/DFFbUoI...
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
Estos bloques contienen pequeños fragmentos de copas de Nariño (provenientes de objetos ya rotos), y esperamos investigar la composición de la pasta de arcilla. (3/3)
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
🇨🇴 ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! ¡REVERSEACTION ya ha regresado a los laboratorios para preparar bloques pulidos para análisis con microscopía electrónica de barrido! (2/3)
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
Happy New Year from REVERSEACTION who have been back in the labs already, preparing polished blocks for the SEM! These blocks contain small fragments of Nariño vessels (from already broken sherds) and we hope to investigate the clay fabric 💪 (1/3) #ArchaeologicalScience #archaeology
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Jasmine Vieri @jasminevieri.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
El material suplementario incluye un resumen extendido en español: ars.els-cdn.com/content/imag...
ars.els-cdn.com
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Jasmine Vieri @jasminevieri.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
All of the data and code are fully reproducible and publicly available on a dedicated repository: github.com/jmkvieri/BBLoP Funded by AHRC, ERC (@reverseaction.bsky.social), and the Osk. Huttunen foundation.
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Jasmine Vieri @jasminevieri.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
6️⃣The new modelling tools are readily applicable beyond archaeometallurgy, e.g, to compositional studies on ceramics or glass, or even to modelling the variability of diets in isotopic studies
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Jasmine Vieri @jasminevieri.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
5️⃣The new tools were applied to the study of Muisca goldwork from pre-Hispanic Colombia (AD 600-1600). The findings suggest the intra-regional circulation of imported gold, with people pooling metals from a variety of geological sources for communal festivities.
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Jasmine Vieri @jasminevieri.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
4️⃣Hierarchical (multilevel) model specifications can simultaneously consider both local and regional patterns in past craft production activities, whilst also accounting for sampling uncertainty. Think of it as zooming in and out on the past!
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Jasmine Vieri @jasminevieri.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
3️⃣Variability in dispersion can tell us about behavioural factors in the past—like centralised control over resources or local improvisation. For example: High dispersion ➡️ decentralised or improvised production Low dispersion ➡️ more standardised practices
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Jasmine Vieri @jasminevieri.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
2️⃣Compositional averages are often used to identify the desired performance characteristics of materials or in reconstructing artefact provenance. But what if compositional dispersions are just as revealing? We move beyond averages in explicitly defining 4 main sources of compositional variability
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Jasmine Vieri @jasminevieri.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
1️⃣Compositional data are often skewed and heteroskedastic, making them challenging to model. Traditional approaches within archaeology, such as simple linear regression on log-transformed data, can make numerically impossible predictions. Beta regression is shown to be a more robust alternative
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Jasmine Vieri @jasminevieri.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
New paper out in JAS on beta regression models of compositional variability in craft production studies! Huge thanks to co-authors @ercrema.bsky.social, María Alicia Uribe Villegas, Juanita Sáenz Samper and @martinontorres.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Key takeaways: 👇
sciencedirect.com
Beyond baselines of performance: Beta regression models of compositional variability in craft production studies
Chemical analyses of archaeological artefacts are often used for provenance studies and for assessing whether specific performance characteristics wer…
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Photos via @archaeologyuk.bsky.social
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Congratulations to our Research Assistant Rosie @justalittleroo.bsky.social for winning the Early Career Archaeologist and Dissemination or Presentation Awards at the 2024 #ArchaeologicalAchievementAwards! 🎉
Rosie being presented with her award and certificate Rosie standing with her award and certificate
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Wishing our Research Assistant @justalittleroo.bsky.social the best of luck tomorrow at the 2024 #ArchaeologicalAchievementAwards. Everyone here at REVERSEACTION is super proud! ✨
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Rosie 🌻🍉 @justalittleroo.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
@noxon.bsky.social hello! Myself and @kateklesner.bsky.social of @reverseaction.bsky.social are currently working with 3D structured light scanning & geometric morphometrics 🙋‍♀️
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
The project is based at the University of Cambridge, in partnership with the #MuseodelOro, Bogotá, and many other friends in Colombia. We will introduce the team in future posts 🇨🇴🇬🇧
Two women in lab coats working at a microscope
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Much of our data will be obtained with colleagues and friends in #Colombia, before developing worldwide cross-temporal comparisons, including present-day communities
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Incorporating technological studies, raw material sourcing, and formal analyses of skill & knowledge transmission, we will test hypotheses on the role of cross-craft interaction, the definition of #luxury, and the relationships between #ritual, complex technologies, & innovations
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
The REVERSEACTION team is trying to answer these questions. We are employing #ArchaeologicalScience methods in collaboration with #environmentalstudies, #anthropology, #sociology, management studies and #crafts, to provide new perspectives on collective action 🥼🤝
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
How is the provision of exotic raw materials secured in the absence of a stable central authority? How was knowledge transmitted? How did some designs and techniques come to be favoured? How was resilience ensured in the face of war or climate disruption? 🤔 #materialculture
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Spectacular #goldwork, sophisticated #textiles, or the long-distance transport of exotic materials in societies without kings or emperors is proof that luxury could be shared. But how can complex technological systems be sustained in the absence of coercive administrations? #Archaeology #archsci
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
We know that #cooperation is the key to tackling many human challenges. People of all kinds can collaborate on collective and ambitious goals, without the need of coercion or capitalist forces. But we know very little about collaboration in the production of ‘luxury objects’. Can luxury be shared? 🧐
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REVERSEACTION Project @reverseaction.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Hello world, we are @reverseaction.bsky.social, an ERC-funded project on #archaeology, #science, #technology, #crafts, #luxury… and #collectiveaction. Allow us to introduce our project. And maybe you can follow and repost? 👀🥼
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